Snowball Fight Sparks Drive-by Shooting

A man whose daughter was hit with a snowball by a group of girls returned to the scene and opened fire with a gun, critically wounding a 10-year-old youngster, police said.

Joseph Best, 32, was arrested Monday and jailed on charges including attempted murder.

The victim, Ebony Smith, 10, who police said wasn't involved in the snowball fight, remains in critical condition with a head wound.

The wife of Joseph Best has also been charged in the drive-by shooting.

Cynthia Powell, 36, was charged late Monday with attempted murder, aggravated assault and related charges in the attack on Ebony, who was shot in the head as she and other children stood on a corner near her home.

Authorities say Powell was driving the car as her husband leaned out the window and opened fire.

Best's daughter was hit with a snowball as she and her friends walked past a group of girls having a "friendly snowball fight" Sunday, police Capt. Charles Bloom said.

"It started off as a snowball fight," said Philadelphia police spokesman Charles Bloom. "Three young girls...went to a nearby store. One gets hit with a snowball, the kids laugh. One thing leads to another, next thing you know they are fistfighting."

The girls ranged in age from 10 to 15. The groups soon parted ways, but Best returned with an older daughter and another brawl erupted, this time between adult relatives of both groups, Bloom said.

Police broke up that fight, but said Best came back again hours later, leaned out the passenger side of a moving car and fired at least five shots into the group of children still playing on the street.

Police said the girl who was shot had been inside during the scuffles.

"This little girl had nothing to do with anything. She wasn't involved in the fight," Bloom said. "He just seemed to be randomly shooting into the crowd."

"I'm fighting tears because this is a child and this child is caught in the cross fire of something senseless," neighbor Wanda Little told CBS station KYW-TV.